Module 3 · Files, tools and your own data Lesson 9 of 15
The brief, the plan, and a delivered artefact — Manus's own feature
You give it a task rather than a question. It writes a plan, runs it with a browser and a code sandbox, and hands back files. The skill is the brief and the stopping rule, not the prompting.
The concept
Because this is the shape of the work that is actually being delegated now: not "write me a sentence" but "go and find out, and bring back a table". Knowing how to brief and audit that work is a management skill as much as a technical one.
Write five labelled lines: task, deliverable, sources, constraints, stopping rule. Ask for the outline before the research. Then audit — open the sources, check the numbers, and read the reasoning for the recommendation. Keep the brief; it is reusable for the next comparison.
Here is the shape of it, in the form you will actually use:
THE FIVE-LINE BRIEF (reuse this for any delegated task)
TASK one sentence, with a verb: "build a comparison table of ..."
DELIVERABLE the exact artefact and its shape
SOURCES what it may use, and that every number needs a URL and a date
CONSTRAINTS the limits that rule options out
STOP RULE when to stop — "show me the outline before researching",
or "stop if two sources disagree on a price"
AUDIT, after it finishes
1. Open two sources at random and check the number on the page.
2. Find one NOT FOUND and decide whether you can live without it.
3. Read the recommendation paragraph and ask: does the evidence
in the table actually support this?
Step 3 is the one that catches a confident agent. The table is usually
right; the conclusion drawn from it is where the invention hides.Common mistakes
The mistake is running an agent for an hour and reading only the summary at the end. The invention is in the details, and the details are what somebody will check.
Worked example
A one-page brief produces a comparison spreadsheet with sources, a short recommendation and the reasoning behind it — in twenty minutes, unattended.
Your practice task
Write one brief with a stopping rule, ask for the outline first, correct the outline, then let it run and check every number it produced.
Do this before moving on. Reading a solution teaches the shape of it; typing it teaches you.
Key takeaway
Because this is the shape of the work that is actually being delegated now: not "write me a sentence" but "go and find out, and bring back a table".
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Finish every lesson to unlock the certificate. Each one ends in a practice task — do them and the final project brief writes itself.